The old crone (Lindsey Goodall) introduces four tales of horror from inside her tomb. In the first story, "Crazy Gunderman", two guys decide to give the town crazy (and local doomsayer) a taste of his own medicine. In "Hercaylac", Vinnie (Joe Estevez) tries to get away from it all out in the woods but finds himself in the clutches of a witch. "Lab Rats" tells the tale of John (Vinnie Bilancio) who wakes up in a nondescript building with white walls and no way out only to discover that he isn’t alone. Finally, in "The Billywack", a young couple discovers that the woods are a deadly place to park your car for a midnight make-out session.

Scream Queen Stephanie Beaton (The Bagman, Evil In The Bayou) directs this indie horror anthology. The camera work is good and the sound is decent, although a scene in the car between Joe Estevez and Robert Herrera (as Hank the biker) is completely indiscernible. Performances are fair and the script is good, although I had a hard time taking any of the dialogue in "Crazy Gunderman" seriously ("I got skills now"). My favorite moment is when Joe Estevez freaks out, screams like a little girl, and throws his typewriter out the window. It’s also nice to see the gorgeous Beaton in a small role in the film as well.

Tales From The Grave suffers most from it’s pacing. At nearly 2 hours, the film strains to make its running time. There are several repetitious scenes during "Crazy Gunderman" where Todd and Mike are just wandering around in the woods. And there is also some interminable footage of Vinnie in "Hercaylac" hanging out in his cabin out in the woods. These moments are intended to build tension but just don’t work.

In the end, Tales From The Grave is a decent indie horror outing. Viewers with above average patience will make it through the slower scenes and find the film’s hidden entertainment value. "Hercaylac" (once it gets moving) and "Lab Rats" are the most fun of the four stories. While "The Billywack" is straight and to the point, "Crazy Gunderman" is overlong and painful to endure. Despite these flaws, there is definitely a great deal of promise here. Hopefully, director/producer/actress/writer Stephanie Beaton and her crew will do better with Tales From The Grave 2: Happy Holidays.

DVD Stuff

Tales From The Grave looks just fine in its full frame presentation. Sound quality is decent although there are some scenes where dialogue is hard to understand, probably due to the source material. There is a trailer for Tales From The Grave and one for Bagman on the disc but there are no other extras.